Weddingbee Blog

For some reason I put off the search for an officiant for quite a long time, until it hit me that I was missing one of the most important vendors—the one involved in the reason that the entire wedding is taking place. We needed someone to marry us—but not just anyone.

Mr. Buck and I are both Christians, so it is very important to both of us to have a religious ceremony focused on our beliefs. Unfortunately, where we are getting married there were not many options. Our venue mainly had recommendations for judges, but we were looking for someone of faith to marry us. There are various pastors within the area, but I wanted something more than that. I was looking for someone that we could easily connect to.

In came the football coach.

I come from a town where high school football is huge. Think Kenny Chesney’s song, Boys of Fall.

{Image via Urban Country News}

A few years back we had an awesome football coach for one of our high schools. Every kid loved him, and he whipped that team into shape. On top of that, he was very involved with a group called Young Life. It is a Christian ministry that gets teenagers involved in faith based activities. My sister was a volunteer for Young Life, which is where she met the football coach. She knew he was ordained because he had officiated a few weddings of people that she knows. Unfortunately, he left to coach at a high school up near the foothills. It was great for them because he is highly respected, but sad for our small little town.

When we were on the search for the perfect officiant for the wedding, my sister brought up the football coach. He just so happens to live near the vicinity of our venue. I called him up to see if he would be interested in officiating our wedding. He was incredibly gracious and told us he would be honored to do so. He is not technically a pastor, but that is fine by us. I am well aware of the incredible work he has done to help others in their faith. That is all we needed: someone with whom we had a connection and would officiate a Christian wedding.

We will be meeting with him and his lovely wife in December to go over details of the wedding. We would love to do it now, but it is football season and from what I have heard…he eats, breathes and sleeps football. And I know better than to come between a man and his football.

If you’re a person of faith but aren’t getting married in a place of worship, how are you going about finding an officiant? Has the search been difficult? Any tips for others in the same boat?